I'll throw in my obligatory plug for paper wallets. Blockchain having issues doesn't affect me, because I don't keep coins there, nor on any web wallet. I have never heard of anyone losing their coins on a paper wallet. So low tech, so high security. Blockchain can scan QR addresses and private keys via your webcam and they make it super easy to get funds in and out of paper. I import, transact, and then withdraw my full remaining balance to paper wallets every time I am done using my web wallet.

Where do you keep them? A safe deposit box?

Does it not bother you that anyone with physical access to the box (e.g. crooked employee) can easily recognise what it is, and steal your coins?

Does it not bother you that anyone with physical access to the box (e.g. crooked employee) can easily recognise what it is, and steal your coins?

Nope, this is why I came up with BIP 38 and Casascius Bitcoin Address Utility. It allows you to create passphrase-encrypted paper wallets.

Keep two or three copies of your encrypted paper wallets in safety deposit boxes in two or three different cities. This may sound like a big deal to set up, but it's not: there's probably a branch of the bank you already bank with in another city you already visit once in a while, just open a box while you're there. Use a bank vault for what it's actually good for - storing your valuables so nobody can touch it - rather than as as theater to make it seem like they actually have your money there.

Leave a copy of the passphrase with your estate planning attorney in a sealed envelope.

Companies claiming they got hacked and lost your coins sounds like fraud so perfect it could be called fashionable. I never believe them. If I ever experience the misfortune of a real intrusion, I declare I have been honest about the way I have managed the keys in Casascius Coins. I maintain no ability to recover or reproduce the keys, not even under limitless duress or total intrusion. Remember that trusting strangers with your coins without any recourse is, as a matter of principle, not a best practice. Don't keep coins online. Use paper or hardware wallets instead.

I have safety deposit boxes in banks in the US & elsewhere, crooked employees do not & can not by design have access to these, you would need to do a full on 'sans armes, ni haine, ni violence' to access them & any virtual currency keys/codes/passwords would be only half of what's needed to access funds = secure

as I don't store full backups there but only passwords that one needs to know where to find the, lets say LastPass ID & Yubi key for, they could though make off with my PMs as compensation/reward for getting that far, same goes for any gov intervention, though there's not much to potentially plunder.

Nope, this is why I came up with BIP 38 and Casascius Bitcoin Address Utility. It allows you to create passphrase-encrypted paper wallets.

Keep two or three copies of your encrypted paper wallets in safety deposit boxes in two or three different cities. This may sound like a big deal to set up, but it's not: there's probably a branch of the bank you already bank with in another city you already visit once in a while, just open a box while you're there. Use a bank vault for what it's actually good for - storing your valuables so nobody can touch it - rather than as as theater to make it seem like they actually have your money there.

Leave a copy of the passphrase with your estate planning attorney in a sealed envelope.

That looks really interesting. I'm computer literate but know nothing about mono. Do you have build instructions anywhere? I've installed mono, but not sure what to do on a unix platform to add the bouncycastle and QR dependencies.

As long as those dependency DLL's are in the same directory, everything will be fine.

Companies claiming they got hacked and lost your coins sounds like fraud so perfect it could be called fashionable. I never believe them. If I ever experience the misfortune of a real intrusion, I declare I have been honest about the way I have managed the keys in Casascius Coins. I maintain no ability to recover or reproduce the keys, not even under limitless duress or total intrusion. Remember that trusting strangers with your coins without any recourse is, as a matter of principle, not a best practice. Don't keep coins online. Use paper or hardware wallets instead.

Does it not bother you that anyone with physical access to the box (e.g. crooked employee) can easily recognise what it is, and steal your coins?

Nope, this is why I came up with BIP 38 and Casascius Bitcoin Address Utility. It allows you to create passphrase-encrypted paper wallets.

Keep two or three copies of your encrypted paper wallets in safety deposit boxes in two or three different cities. This may sound like a big deal to set up, but it's not: there's probably a branch of the bank you already bank with in another city you already visit once in a while, just open a box while you're there. Use a bank vault for what it's actually good for - storing your valuables so nobody can touch it - rather than as as theater to make it seem like they actually have your money there.

Leave a copy of the passphrase with your estate planning attorney in a sealed envelope.

I would also recommend to not disclose the Bitcoin address on the encrypted offline wallet, so noone can guess the amount stored there. Otherwise you risk severe torture/blackmail/kidnapping when someone gets to your offline wallet and forces you to pay ransom by revealing the password.

Companies claiming they got hacked and lost your coins sounds like fraud so perfect it could be called fashionable. I never believe them. If I ever experience the misfortune of a real intrusion, I declare I have been honest about the way I have managed the keys in Casascius Coins. I maintain no ability to recover or reproduce the keys, not even under limitless duress or total intrusion. Remember that trusting strangers with your coins without any recourse is, as a matter of principle, not a best practice. Don't keep coins online. Use paper or hardware wallets instead.